


Miss Me in Your Bones

by mackenziemchale



Category: The Newsroom (US TV)
Genre: Angst, During S3, F/M, So many emotions, So much angst, mac is lowkey a mess, the night before will goes to jail, there’s barley any fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-03
Updated: 2020-09-03
Packaged: 2021-03-06 17:40:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,809
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26272750
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mackenziemchale/pseuds/mackenziemchale
Summary: How was she supposed to go to sleep when all that she could think about was that tomorrow she was going to lose Will for an unknown amount of time?
Relationships: Will McAvoy/MacKenzie McHale
Comments: 14
Kudos: 18





	Miss Me in Your Bones

**Author's Note:**

> Hi everyone, it’s been a minute since my last upload. That’s mostly because I started classes again and I’ve been dealing with the boatload of work and stress that comes with it. Things have simmered down recently and I managed to find time to write this. 
> 
> Thank you to Leanne who helped me with this fic in multiple ways including proofreading it for me. 
> 
> Hope you enjoy 💛

Mackenzie looks down into the glass half filled with a combination of rum and coke that she had been nursing for the last half hour. She takes another sip of the bitter drink (which was more rum than coke) and tilts her head back up to the view in front of her. The city before her was lit up for the night and she could hear the hustle and bustle just a few blocks down from them. Their apartment was in a quieter part of Manhattan, as quiet as it could be for the city that never sleeps. Mackenzie enjoyed the semi-quietness of their neighborhood but was so used to the sounds that came with living in a city that she was no longer bothered by them. Though she was relieved that none of their neighbors were the type to party all night long, that was something she would never not be annoyed by.

Mackenzie downs another, larger, sip of her drink followed by a sigh falling from her lips moments later. This wasn’t her first drink of the night and she didn’t see it being her last. Mac didn’t care that it was only Thursday and she most definitely had to be at work in the morning. Tomorrow was Friday, and Will was most likely going to be sentenced to an unknown amount of time in jail. Couldn’t they have at least waited until July? She and Will were set to marry in June and she didn’t care so much about the fact that they had 300 guests coming as much as she cared that the wedding wasn’t going to happen if he was sitting behind bars come June. Mac had an awful feeling in her gut that he was. That his jail time was going to last more than the ten days everyone was hoping for. 

“‘s a little late to be out here, don’t you think?” Will’s weary voice takes her out of her thoughts and back into the moment. The cool night air was nipping lightly at her exposed arms, but it wasn’t enough to bother her. The sweatpants Mac was wearing was enough to help keep her warm.

Will’s words are followed by a yawn as he steps out onto the balcony where Mackenzie had been sitting and drinking for well over an hour now. He didn’t even realize that she had left bed. 

The power had gone out somewhere around ten meaning it cut off the movie they had started watching while lying in bed. Both had become disappointed because it was only going to be background noise to what would’ve soon been either a make-out session or sex but as soon as the power went out the mood seemed to be killed. Will had fallen asleep not long after, he was under a lot more stress than usual and she could only imagine what was going through his mind knowing that he was going to jail. She ended up on the balcony around eleven after trying for an hour to sleep.

Finishing off her drink, Mac sets aside her glass and shrugs, “you know that sleep and I can be enemies sometimes.” 

How was she supposed to go to sleep when all that she could think about was that tomorrow she was going to lose Will for an unknown amount of time? Yeah, she could visit him, and she was going to take every opportunity she could, but it wasn’t going to be the same. Not having him at work, not being in his ear for a full hour during the show, not getting to go home every night with him like she had since the night they got engaged. It was absolute torture to even think about and experiencing it was going to be another sort of pain she wasn’t prepared for.

She glances back at her fiancé, who was still standing near the sliding glass door that led to their balcony, and her chest aches. It was ridiculous how cute he looked, having just rolled out of bed and half awake. Mac could see that his eyes were still heavy with sleepiness but if she were to tell him a full story she knew he’d still hang on to every last word. His hair was tousled in different directions and he was moments away from yawning again. God, she was going to miss seeing him like this.

“Why don’t you come inside? I think I do a pretty good job of making you and sleep be friends,” Will responds, the tiredness still lingering in his voice.

As much as she was filled with sadness of what was to come, Mackenzie can’t fight back her smile because of his words. She nods and finally pulls herself out of the chair she’d been lounging in for the last hour.

⠀⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀⠀●●●⠀ ⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀ ⠀⠀

They were back in bed, power still out, within moments. They weren’t laying down however, they were sitting on the edge of the bed next to each other and Will had reached under the purple tank top she was wearing and was rubbing his hand lightly along her back. Mac’s head was resting on his shoulder while he did that and one of her hands was pressed against his thigh as they sat together.

He was almost tempted to ask what was wrong but that was a silly question because he knew. There was a cluster of things happening around them all at once but what else would be keeping her up this late? Will couldn’t blame her for being upset, he was feeling that too alongside a million other emotions he couldn’t even process about going to jail. 

It only takes about a minute before Mac starts thinking about how this was just their luck. Like they hadn’t been through enough in the past six years, why not throw Will in jail to add a cherry on top of all of that? She feels her eyes starting to well up and she quickly tries to wipe away any tears that dare to fall. She felt nearly stupid for shedding any tears, because she knew it was selfish to be as upset as she was when she certainly wasn’t going to be the one caged like an animal for an unknown amount of time. It felt wrong to cry and be upset because she was also incredibly proud of him for doing what was right, for protecting Neal, and for not naming the source. The man he was three years ago wouldn’t have even thought to protect Neal or the source, he wouldn't have thought of anyone else but himself (or maybe Charlie). That wasn’t the man she knew he was,  _ this  _ was the man Mackenzie knew and it only took her not backing down or giving up on him to pull that out of him. It worked, because here they were sitting on the edge of their bed engaged and Will was less than 24 hours away from being put in jail.

Will shifts his position as they stay sitting together and moves his hand from under her shirt to gently pulling her off his shoulder so they could look at each other. The only light that was coming into their room was the moonlight mixed with a little bit of lights from the city that were peeking in from the blinds that he had pulled open before they sat down. It wasn’t quite the same as normal lighting, but they could at least see each other despite the dark apartment.

He had been trying to find the right words to say since he found her out on the balcony, but none of them seemed to be enough to make her feel better. He was fully awake now, exhausted, and his mind was running a marathon as it continued searching for something that would ease her mind.

All that he can think to come up with is whispering the simple phrase, “it’s going to be okay.”

Mackenzie stares into Will’s eyes, her chest aching worse than it had earlier. And even though her mind and her heart were on opposite sides of the battlefield, duking it out over what emotion she should be feeling, another part of her makes that decision as more tears come flowing out of her. She couldn’t even attempt to hide the tears because they were flowing fast, and it only takes another couple of seconds for the dam to completely break. His words mixed with the sorrow-filled look she could make out in the dimly lit room made her break down in sobs.

There was not a second of hesitation from Will. He didn’t get a chance to grab her and pull her in for a hug before she started sobbing, but the second the dam breaks, his arms are around her before she can choke out her second sob. 

And all he knows to do is to rub her back and repeat over and over again that it was going to be okay. His heart was breaking more than it already had been. They were in the same boat, Will didn’t want to leave her for who knew how long. It was only about five months since their engagement and five months wasn’t anywhere near long enough to make up the six  _ years _ they had lost. Three years of not seeing each other, not talking, Mac running to a war zone in an attempt to forget about him and move on. Three years of him acting like a complete and total idiot (and not to mention ass) when she came back into his life. They’d lost so much already and losing more time was yet another punch in the gut to both of them.

For several minutes, Mackenzie sobs in Will’s arms and manages to completely soak the t-shirt he had on. She even becomes a little angry and frustrated at him for leaving her and so she hits his chest a few times (not nearly hard enough to hurt him) and asks him why he had to do this. Her voice was brittle, and it was hard to speak between the crying, so she stopped trying and let the tears keep coming until the well was mostly dried up. 

Will was somewhat surprised when she hit his chest a couple times and heard her say how mad at him she was, but he knew that she was only saying it in the moment. All he said in response to her was to let it all out and he continued to reiterate that things would be okay. 

And finally, after another minute or so her tears finally stop falling. The combination of him whispering not only the words “it’s okay” but also “I love you” along with other sweet nothings helped her mind find some ease. 

Mackenzie brings herself out of his grasp and looks down at their bedsheets below them, suddenly feeling very stupid for this outburst as her brain’s logical side started working up again. She knew she wasn’t the only one feeling like this and that he was certainly feeling the same and even more than her.

Her hand reaches out to him and finds its place back on his thigh, muttering out an apology for the last five minutes while keeping her gaze down at their bedsheets. 

Will reaches out too and he uses his forefinger and middle finger to lift her chin. It was hard to make out every detail of her face in the dimly lit bedroom, but he knew her eyes had to be bloodshot and he could imagine her cheeks were bright red. He could see the stray tears that still streaked down her cheeks and his first instinct is to use his thumb to wipe them away. There were more that were falling so he leans down and presses a kiss to each cheek, making his best attempt to kiss away her tears.

Will then presses his forehead down against her own and asks quietly, “you know I love you right?”

The question brings a mix of both sadness and love to her when she hears it. She hated that this was the last night they’d spend together for an uncertain period of time, but at the same time she was beyond relieved they weren’t spending it apart. His attempt to get her tears to stop seemed to work and even though there was still a heaviness weighing on her heart, she felt some relief. 

She doesn’t answer his question, instead Mackenzie’s lips were on his within seconds. Their kiss quickly progresses from a short peck to a feverous and desperate one. 

And then it happened. Will’s back was pressed into the mattress as she scrambled on top of him. Both of their clothes disappeared as quickly as either could pull them off and Mac was using this moment to memorize every inch of his body. She certainly already had every inch memorized, but there was a part of her that was afraid she’d forget so she took every second she could spending time pressing kisses all over him. She kissed every inch including the scars that remained from his childhood.

Before they went further, Will made sure to bring her back to his eyeline and quietly asked if she was sure about this. It only made her smile and nod, giving him back the same question. He nodded too and they quickly shifted from trying to memorize every inch of each other to passionate love making.

Will gripped the sheet below him with one hand while the other roamed her body before deciding to land on one of her breasts. He couldn’t help but be fixated on the sight of Mackenzie on top of him even though he had seen it countless times before, it was different in the room lit by only a mixture of lights from the city and the moonlight. The way her head was tilted back, her eyes having fallen closed as she moved in an effortless, semi-fast paced way switching between moaning out his name (nickname, and did he love hearing it when it fell from her lips in a moan) and whimpering. She was the most heavenly sight he had ever laid his eyes on. 

Both fought not to think about how tomorrow was going to be one of the most difficult days they were going to have together. They focused fully and completely on one another as time slipped by them and it grew later into the night. They had progressed past purely just love making in the first ten minutes. They had completely stripped down and beared their souls to one another like they never had before. They connected in a way that from here on out was going to forever change their relationship and strengthen it for the better.

It was nearly 3:30am by the time that both had worn each other out beyond belief. Neither usually made it past 2:00am on a regular night if they stayed up having sex. Neither even wanted to move when they both had finished a few minutes ago but eventually, Will ended up back on his side of the bed and put an arm around her before passing out. Mac didn’t bother to cuddle much closer to him because she too was out before she could put much thought into it. 

⠀⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀⠀●●●⠀ ⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀ ⠀⠀

For once in Mac’s life, she didn’t need to be convinced to stay in bed when 8am rolled around and the alarm clock on Will’s side of the bed started blaring. He hit it at least three times before it finally stopped beeping and it was by then that her heart rate went back to normal after being jolted awake. 

Will was met by Mackenzie giving him a soft smile when he turned back around after assaulting the alarm clock. Her eyes were heavy, and she was very clearly just as exhausted as he was.

“Hi,” she hums, her voice weary and somewhat hoarse.

He instantly smiles back as the memories of last night flooded back into his mind as if he could ever forget. Will scoots closer to his fiancée and presses his hand to her cheek, “hi,” he says in a soft voice that shared the same weariness as hers.

“Last night was…” Mac trails off, unable to find the right words to begin to describe the feeling last night gave her. 

“Sensational?”

She gives a soft laugh and nods, “you could say that.”

Then he greeted her with a kiss good morning, neither caring about having morning breath. She kissed him back repeatedly, letting the kiss naturally progress as their kisses always did. However, as she’s scooting closer to him a groan (and not in a good way) comes from her as her phone dings from the bedside table next to the bed.

“Don’t answer it,” Will hums into her mouth and continues kissing her. 

At first, Mac complies and pulls Will over from his side of the bed and on top of her but lets out a frustrated sigh as she hears another ding coming from her phone. She should’ve muted the damn thing last night or left it in the living room where it wouldn’t interrupt them.

“If I don’t answer then whoever it is will just keep messaging me,” she points out as she traces a line across his chest as he hovers over her.

Will groans this time and pulls himself off her, freeing her to get her phone off the nightstand. “Whoever it is, they better have good reason for bothering you first thing in the morning.”

“Someone’s awful moody after the night I gave him,” Mac raises a brow as she returns to her previous spot, phone now in hand.

He doesn’t dare to rebuttal, knowing he’d lose any opportunity to carry on last night if he made some stupid sarcastic remark. 

Mac had grabbed her glasses too and slid them on to read the two messages that were both from Jim. Messages asking when both her and Will would be in and when his court hearing was. She gives him a short message, saying that he was in charge at work for the day and that they wouldn’t be in. She quickly followed that text up with telling Jim what time the senior staff should be at the courthouse if they wanted to show support for Will.

“Who was it?” Will questions as he watches her finish typing.

“Just Jim, asking when we’d be in. I said we weren’t coming and that he’s in charge for the day. Oh, and I told him what time the senior staff should be at the courthouse if they want to show you support.” Mac then presses the off button on her phone, “but now I’m turning off my phone.” She watches the Blackberry screen fade to black before reaching out behind her and letting the phone drop to the floor. 

Mackenzie grabs Will again and brings him back to where they had been previously, “and now you have my full attention again,” her lips curve into a smile before she brings him in for another long and drawn out kiss.

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“I owe you an apology,” Mac says as she steps out of the bathroom, having just finished getting ready to go with Will to his hearing.

After having spent the entire morning and most of the afternoon in bed together, the only thing that pulled them out was checking the time and realizing how little time they had left before needing to be at the courthouse. It took both longer than usual to get ready and Will was still finishing, he wasn’t ready to leave their apartment yet.

Will looks up from tucking in his shirt, confusion written on his face, “apology for what?”

“Last night,” Mackenzie replies as she slips on her heels.

“You’re going to have to elaborate honey because from what I understand after spending almost all day in bed carrying on last night, I’d hope you’re not apologizing for that.”

All she can do is roll her eyes as she strides over to him and steals the tie he had just put on from his hands and begins tying it for him. “Not the sex, get your head out of the gutter. I meant for having a complete breakdown.”

Will watches as his fiancée’s delicate hands tie his tie and listening to her words makes him more confused. “Mackenzie…”

Mac looks back up at him as she finishes with his tie and her hands instinctively rest on his chest, “I’m sorry for being selfish, I know that you’re feeling the same about this and a whole lot more. And really, I’m so proud of you for stepping in and protecting Neal and the source. The man who I met when I came to ACN three years ago wouldn’t have done that.”

Shaking his head, Will takes her hands from his chest and squeezes both, “you don’t owe me an apology. You had and have every right to be upset. We spent six years broken up because of my stubbornness, so to have something good that you’ve waited so long for like our engagement happen only for me to be going to jail five months later… upset isn’t even enough to describe how awful that feels.”

She looks up into his eyes and a sigh comes from her and she quickly steps forward and throws her arms around him in a hug. He doesn’t even hesitate to bring his arms around her too and envelope her in a tight hug. 

They’re both quiet for a minute and the hug was almost enough to make the heavy weight sitting on her heart disappear. For a second Mac could forget that they needed to get to the courthouse and that she was going to come home tonight and for many nights by herself. She had temporarily blocked all of this out of her mind last night and most of the day, but when they finally got out of bed it all came barreling back and it wasn’t until this moment that she felt  _ okay _ .

“I am sorry for hitting your chest several times,” Mac quietly chuckles against his white button-down he had on. 

Will laughs too, “ah it’s fine, you didn’t hit hard enough to hurt me.” 

The two finally part after another minute and Will looks down at her, reaching to take her hand again. “Are you ready?” he asks.

Her eyes meet his again and both share the same sadness, “no,” she admits and laces their fingers together as their hands meet. “Are you?”

Will shakes his head, “no.” He then shifts and begins to lead the way out of their bedroom, “but we’ll get through this.”

**Author's Note:**

> Ok hopefully no one is too disappointed that the rating on this isn’t higher 😂 
> 
> Oh also I just wanted to let y’all know that my next fic will most likely be a new addition to The McAvoy Family so stay tuned for some McAvoy family fluff 🥰
> 
> Feel free to leave any feedback or a kudos if you feel so included. It’s always appreciated 💛
> 
> Thank you for taking the time to read this. Until next time 💛


End file.
